The concept of decks that are assembled from planks of either wood, plastics, or metal are known in the art. Oftentimes the space below the deck as well as the deck provides usable space. When the below deck space in an outdoor deck it is desirable to have the deck water resistant so rainwater or moisture does not leak through the deck and hamper the use of the space under the deck. A number of different types of interlocked metal sections that are formed into a deck are available. Generally, the metal sections form a metal to metal contact with each other to provide a deck. As the metal to metal contact generally allows leakage between the sections one generally needs to apply a sealant between adjacent metal sections. Applying a sealant to the joints not only increases the time and difficulty of assembling a deck but if not properly applied the deck can still allow water to seep through the joint between adjacent metal sections. In still other embodiments the planks are required to be mechanically locked to each other.
In order to inhibit moisture from seeping between the planks one should be able to quickly bring the deck planks into edge to edge sealing engagement with each other without having to lock the planks to each other. In addition if moisture should come through the edge to edge sealing of adjacent deck planks one still should be able direct the moisture away from the underside of the deck planks.
The present invention provides an improved deck plank that a homeowner can use to quickly construct a water resistant deck by hand assembly of a plurality of deck planks that each carry at least one resilient sealing member to enable one to quickly bring adjacent deck planks into a water resistant condition without the need to separately apply a sealant to the joint between adjacent planks and without the need to mechanically lock adjacent planks to each other.
In addition to inhibiting leakage of water between adjacent deck planks at least one or more of the deck planks can contain an integral drain channel that is located below the walking surface of the deck to drain away rain water before it accumulates on the deck. As the drain channel is integral to the deck plank, not only can one quickly form a deck with a water resistant seal between adjacent deck planks but one can simultaneously provide a drain channel to the deck that will carry away rain water on the top surface of the deck without the need to install a separate rain gutter.